Social reservation is the flavour of the pre-poll season. The Marathas want their scrapped quota to be restored or else included in the Other Backward Classes. As the Maratha agitation in Marathwada subsided after the chief minister’s intervention, the aggrieved OBCs intensified their protest that ended on Saturday in Chandrapur, following assurances from the government that their share would remain intact. This column had hinted a month ago that a Maratha versus OBC clash was in the offing for politicians to take advantage of.

In addition, the Dhangars have been demanding nomadic tribe status. The existing caste groups in the NT category oppose it vehemently. The Dhangar agitation was also brought to an end, after promising all possible remedies. However, the truce called by the Maratha protesters and others is temporary. In the interim, the state rulers are gasping for breath and struggling to find resolutions that could sustain the legal scrutiny. Parties in the government and outside it have been assessing the political impact of the Marathas versus OBCs clash, and the unrest in the other demanding castes, ahead of the polls. The Bharatiya Janata Party that traditionally has been getting the support of the OBCs, would surely not want to displease the Maratha community - which is the largest in Maharashtra - that will vote in the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, simultaneously if the two elections are clubbed together in the summer or winter next year.